


My Shoulders Are Strong, but You Can Cry on Them Too

by nctinee



Series: Erlebnisse [18]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: As expected from me :), Because I wanted to!!, Bullying, Chenle protection squad where u at, Cuddling & Snuggling, First Meetings, I did this for the JenLe!!, I'm really sorry if it bothers you :(, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung & Park Jisung Are Siblings, Kun and Chenle are brothers because it's my favorite HC, Let my JohnKun agenda arise!!!, Like..two swear words, Middle School, Muteness, Park Jisung & Zhong Chen Le Are Best Friends, Some triggering language probably, That isn't a tag yet??, This is what you could call a Meet-Cute but it won't be romantic, Zhong Chen Le-centric, but..., mute character, offensive language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24749104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nctinee/pseuds/nctinee
Summary: He’s just walked out of the main hallway to take a shortcut to get to the parking lot when a figure enters his vision, and his blood runs cold.Jameson Witherell. Eighth grader, star football player, and the bane of his existence.In an attempt to get away in hopes the older boy hasn’t seen him, he tries to turn around as fast and as inconspicuous as possible, but to no avail because he suddenly feels his backpack being yanked away from his back, body following soon after since he’s being shoved into the lockers behind him.
Relationships: Qian Kun & Zhong Chen Le
Series: Erlebnisse [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1418836
Comments: 8
Kudos: 39





	My Shoulders Are Strong, but You Can Cry on Them Too

**Author's Note:**

> The italic text in quotes is Mandarin. There will probably be some confusing parts with emphasized words and Mandarin, but I hope you'll be able to differentiate it.
> 
> And I hope I don't come off as racist or insensitive towards Chinese or mute people. That's the last thing I want, so let me know if I say something wrong so I can fix it!!

The only thing Chenle really remembers from when he and his family lived in China was their Friday evening walks in a little park near their house. He doesn’t remember much other than that since it was eight years ago and they had moved to America when he was four, but he does remember a swing set that Kun would always push him on and pointing out different shapes in the clouds. Everything about those Friday memories are a little staticy and colored in a pinkish tint because whenever he recollects those times, there’s something off about them, but he can’t quite figure out what.

He likes thinking about his life in China, no matter how brief it was. It pulls him away from how harsh reality is, and back to a simpler time when he could talk freely and laugh without anyone reprimanding him. He was a free little kid back then, and now he’s worried about being too loud or saying the wrong words or failing the Social Studies test he has tomorrow, because he’s twelve, and life is really hard right now.

When he had started elementary school, he didn’t know any English. He barely knew Mandarin, and his parents had wanted him to learn both languages at the same time so he could keep up with school and stay connected to his roots, which he thought was kind of funny because his parents had pretty much up-ended his life and tore his roots out of the ground before they started growing. Despite that, the Mandarin was much easier to learn because he had many family members to help him, and because the language was familiar to him.

The English however, was a different story. Everyone in his family had to learn it, and they all struggled in their own ways. His parents never told him the extent of their problems in the beginning, but he does know that it was difficult for them to find jobs because of the language barrier. There were a lot of racist comments too, though that had lessened over the years as people gained more respect for his family as time went on. 

All he had to deal with was learning two languages at once, and that kids can ask a lot of ignorant questions. Sometimes he says the wrong word, or mispronounces something and some of his classmates will look at him funny or laugh at him, which has been happening all his life. He’s used to it. He knows he shouldn’t be, or accept it, but he’s just too tired to say something about it. 

The person who had it the worst though, was Kun. At nine-years-old, his brother was torn away from home and friends and family members, and was moved to a foreign country where he was expected to excel at school subjects and make friends while trying not to be affected by comments that made him feel unwelcome in his own skin. Their parents had set the bar so high for his brother that he had crumbled, and set his anxiety off at an alarming rate. Chenle remembers seeing Kun chew off his fingernails and making them bleed at every chance he got, and can still sometimes hear the echoes of his tapping feet on the hardwood floor.

The most heart-breaking part though, was when he stopped speaking. He had developed so much anxiety in saying something wrong in front of his peers that he just wouldn’t speak at school and even at home, and Chenle remembers his parents telling him that Kun was Selectively Mute, and that the therapist said it would take a while for him to start comfortably speaking again, and even that was a stretch. For about a year, Kun would struggle through therapy sessions and ASL lessons while trying to balance school and trying to fit in in a new country, until he felt comfortable enough to speak to his family again. 

(The first word he had said to Chenle a year after he stopped speaking was “Eat,” in English while handing him a bag of goldfish crackers. His voice was hoarse and his hands were a little twitchy, but he had a giant smile on his face that made Chenle bubble over in joy. He was only five then, and didn’t understand much of his brother’s situation, but knew that the first word he had said after all the therapy and comfort from loved ones was a big deal; so much so that he started crying after looking up at his brother from the book he was reading. It’s one of his favorite memories, if he’s honest.)

Kun has gotten better since then, and all of his friends had no problem with communication limitations. Ten had even gone as far as to learn ASL for Kun, and had taught everyone else some basic phrases to help. Chenle knew a lot of ASL as well, so on top of his Mandarin and English lessons, he learned a few new phrases each day because he actually enjoyed learning it. There really wasn’t a use for it now, but he still did it for Kun in case the situation called for it.

His family was okay now though. Everyone was healthy and happy, and Chenle had befriended a bunch of kids from his classes (Jeongin from his math class is really nice, Jinsol and Hyejoo from science always offered to be his partner, and Kyla and Daehwi from P.E accompany him on the bleachers when he doesn’t want to run laps. Jisung though is his best friend, and always had been since he had sat down next to the shy boy and asked what kind of game he was playing on his 3DS), so life was good. 

He wakes up Wednesday morning to his mother opening his curtain and letting the sun hit his eyes. It takes him a minute to get his thoughts together and properly wake up before remembering where he is and who he’s with. 

His mother pats him on the head when he sits up and says, _“Breakfast in ten minutes, and your brother’s leaving soon so you better hurry,”_ before leaving his room.

 _Oh crap, the field trip,_ he thinks as he swings his feet over the edge of his bed to walk over to his closet. He had forgotten that there was a Juniors & Seniors field trip today to a museum, and that his brother had to leave really early to get to the school on time. Now that he thinks about it, he remembers Kun switching to sign a little into the discussion with their parents the night before because of nerves, and tries to get dressed a little faster to make sure he sees his brother off before he leaves.

It only takes him ten minutes and the smell of his father’s congee to get him down the stairs with his backpack slung over one shoulder. His mother is reading the newspaper at the table while his father is in the kitchen making breakfast, and he peeks his head into the entryway to see Kun sitting down on the floor while tapping his fingers on his left knee with his phone balanced on the right. His bag is next to him on the floor, though it isn’t as full as it usually is since he isn’t going to class for the day.

He looks up when the floor creaks under Chenle’s feet, and a small smile breaks out on his face. He signs, “Good morning,” then pats the space next to him on the ground while turning off his phone.

He dumps his bag on the floor and eagerly walks over to his brother, dropping his head onto the older’s shoulder when he’s sitting comfortably against the wall. Kun takes his left hand and folds their fingers together while signing, “Sleep?” with a lift in his brows. He makes the “Okay,” sign and Kun nods while turning his phone back on at the vibration against his thigh.

They sit there together in silence, Kun occasionally laughing at a text one of his friends sends him. His mother comes into the entryway with a bowl of congee for him, and he eats as his brother and mother discuss some final details about the field trip and when Kun will get home. There’s a joke somewhere about Kun staying at a “friend’s” house afterward that he misses, but laughs at Kun’s blushing cheeks anyway because he enjoys seeing his brother so flustered.

Just as he’s about to ask what friend his mother’s talking about, there’s a honk from outside that makes Kun jump and clutch his heart in surprise. He laughs at his brother’s reaction again, and Kun slaps him lightly on the thigh in retaliation before grabbing his bag and standing up. He gives their mother a hug, and then turns and ruffles the younger’s hair from where he’s still sitting on the floor.

Chenle stands when he opens their front door to leave, and looks over his brother’s shoulder to see a familiar black SUV pulled up to the curb with two equally familiar faces looking out of the passenger’s side window.

Ten yells, _“Good morning Mrs. Qian!”_ in very butchered Mandarin, contrasting Johnny who yells out in near-perfect pronunciation, _“Hope you’re okay with us stealing him away this early! I promise I’ll return him home on time,”_ with a blinding smile.

 _“Good morning to you both; and don’t worry about that Mr. Seo, you can steal him any time,”_ his mother says while laughing, and Kun turns around and signs, “Stop it,” which makes her laugh harder.

Kun gets into the backseat while angrily signing something at Ten, and Johnny waves goodbye as he pulls away from their house. Chenle eagerly signs, “I love you,”, waving his hand back and forth like a lunatic, and his brother responds just as frantic, figure dark and distorted through the window. 

When the car disappears down the road, he heads back to the hallway to get his bag and kiss his parents goodbye before walking out of the house to the bus stop on the corner. 

Since his parents are both busy with their jobs in the morning, neither of them have time to take him to school so he takes the bus. He would’ve rather had his parents take him, but Jisung and all his other friends keep him company and the ride to the school is always entertaining. He remembers once last year someone had started blasting Eminem and someone else had perfectly rapped the whole song, and even added some choreography. Another time someone made around 20 paper cranes and passed them out as each person got off at their stop, and those were just a few times something weird had happened.

The bus isn’t there when he gets to the stop, but Jisung and Jeongin are playing hand slap while Kyla and her cousin Peter watch in amusement. He’s far enough away that they don’t notice him yet, but close enough that he can hear his best friend’s cries of pain as Jeongin delivers a particularly hard slap (everyone in their friend group knew not to play against Jeongin in hand slap. Sure, his reflexes weren’t fast, but he made up for it in power. It sounds dramatic, sure, but he swears Jeongin almost broke one of his fingers once).

He hops onto Jisung’s back when he gets close enough, the other yelling out in surprise at the sudden weight added to his body. All Kyla and Peter do is roll their eyes and continue talking about a new movie coming out, ignoring the squabble in front of them.

When Jisung starts whining about him being too heavy, he hops off the other’s back, straightening his now ruffled hair and fixing his backpack.

“Can you maybe not jump on my back? I’ve already got bad posture,”

"And whose fault is that? You’re the one playing Call of Duty until two in the morning,”

“Three, actually,” Jisung replies, matter-of-fact. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and glares at whatever’s on the screen, small sigh leaving his mouth.

“Why did I have to get stuck with Doyoung. Why,” and he turns the screen towards Chenle, showing a text that reads: “Good luck on your test! Tell Lele I said hi! I love you!!”

“Oh he cares about you, how horrible—” then he remembers, “—Did hyung go on the field trip today?”

“Yeah, why?” the other replies without looking up.

“Can you tell him to keep and eye on Kun-ge and Johnny hyung? Ge was acting weird with Johnny and I need more intel,” because they were brothers, and he could read Kun like a book most of the time, he could tell there was something weird about the way Kun acted around the older boy. It wasn’t hard to miss the furtive glances and small smiles whenever the other’s name was mentioned, and he planned to get to the bottom of it all, even if the answer was fairly obvious.

“I mean, yeah, I guess. What for?”

The bus pulls up to their stop as he answers, “I think Kun-ge has a crush on hyung and I need more evidence,”

“D’you ever think about leaving them and their gross love-lives alone?”

“Never,”

Jisung just shrugs and lets him walk ahead onto the bus first.

The first part of the day goes well. He’s one of the first people done with his Language Arts test, he finishes his Social Studies homework during the period, and now he’s heading to the lunchroom to relax a bit and eat with his friends before P.E. 

The volume increases as he speed walks into the lunchroom, tens of other kids walking with him as they all try to get in the lunch line as fast as possible. Along with his parents being too busy to take him to school and him being too lazy in the mornings, he doesn’t pack his own lunch and is left to eat the school made ones. He likes to think he’s built up a tolerance to the horrible food since it all just tastes like cardboard, unlike some of his friends who have just had the school food once and never again.

He gets pizza, some applesauce, and some fruit, then pays for his meal and thanks the lunch lady, making his way to his lunch table through the throng of people.

When he sits down, Jisung has already eaten half of his PB&J, Daehwi is five spoonfuls into his fried rice, while Hyejoo, Yerim, and Minjoo watch a video on Yerim’s phone. The people at the other end of the table are playing some sort of stacking game with the applesauce, and he wants to bet that by the end someone will have applesauce spilled all over them.

Hyejoo turns to him as he’s about to take a bite of pizza and says, “You wanna play a round of PUBG?” So he takes out his phone and opens the game, abandoning the cafeteria food.

Halfway through the game, a call from his mom comes up on the screen, and he wonders what his mother would be calling him about. He doesn’t remember leaving anything at home, or that he was going to be picked up by someone, so why would his mom call him now?

When he picks up the phone, he can hear her talking to someone else in the background and many other voices fading in and out, but he can’t make out any of it. 

_“_ _Māma_ _is everything alright? Did I leave something at home?”_ he asks, and he has to wait a few seconds for her reply.

_“I’m fine baobei, but Kun had a panic attack so we’re taking him home, so we’ll be there when you get back okay?”_

He hums in response and looks over at Jisung who’s eyeing him with concern. His mother says, _“I love you, be good in choir,”_ and waits for him to say _“I love you too,”_ before hanging up.

Kun had a panic attack. Either from the amount of people around him at the museum or being expected to answer a question that he wasn’t prepared for, he wasn’t sure, but he hoped his brother was doing okay. He hadn’t had a panic attack in a long time, and was doing a lot better; he was even able to talk to a few new people without clamming up around them, so Chenle was proud of him for how far he’d come, panic attack or not.

Jisung and Hyejoo are looking at him in concern, and waves his hands in reply, saying, “Something happened at the museum and Kun-ge had a panic attack so mom’s taking him home now. I’m gonna text him to see if he’s okay,”

“It’s been a long time since he’s had an attack, right? The last one was last year in speech?” Jisung asks, abandoning trying to open his fruit snack packet.

“Yeah, and it was at the beginning of the year too. I might just skip choir, I dunno if I'm up for it and head home,”

“That sucks. Tell him I hope he gets better,”

“Yeah, yeah. You need help opening that?”

Jisung pouts and hands the packet over without looking at him while Daehwi laughs at his struggle. 

From there on out, his day gets progressively worse. He and Kun text a little before lunch is over, the older comforting him and telling him that his panic had gone away and that he was just tired from the trip, and he manages to convince him to go to choir, and that there’s no rush to get home. 

They play soccer in P.E, and he twists his ankle five minutes before the period ends, then he gets to science where they have a pop quiz that he definitely failed, and finally in his last class of the day, he gets called out for laughing too loud at a joke Jeongin made about the pythagorean theorem. 

By the time he walks through the choir room door, he’s ready to pass out and never wake up again, the events of the day crashing down on him like waves. 

He's only got an hour left at this horrid place, then he can get home and hang out with his brother and forget all about the horrible day he's had.

But for now, he sits with the rest of the kids and waits for the teacher to come in and start their practice.

Chenle likes school. He likes learning about the past and reading new books, playing with his friends in P.E and performing in the choir competitions. He enjoys most of the time he spends in school, and he can’t wait to see what new things and new people await him in high school.

Those facts in general, surprise people. He knows a lot of kids his age don’t like school, and find middle school for the most part to be like hell. And while he agrees with that statement, he still tries to look on the bright side and tries to enjoy himself as much as possible. He wants to look back on these times with fondness and joy, not reluctance and anger. 

But times like now make looking on the bright side very difficult.

It’s after school hours, and he’s just finished rehearsing with the school choir for their showcase next week, body and mind tired as he walks through the halls to get to the front of the building. There are lots of other students wandering the halls, some in sports jerseys, some in costumes for the school play, some practicing dance, and some carrying in buckets of paint and wood for the set building. 

He’s just walked out of the main hallway to take a shortcut to get to the parking lot when a figure enters his vision, and his blood runs cold. 

Jameson Witherell. Eighth grader, star football player, and the bane of his existence. 

Somehow, ever since he had been going to this school, it had been the older boy’s mission to make his life as miserable as possible. That meant slamming him into lockers, knocking the books out of his hands, or yelling horrible insults at him until he had tears in his eyes. 

He was fairly used to it since it’s been happening for over a year, but it didn’t mean that he could just block out the bullying. Whenever Jameson had done something to him, his friends had been around to help him out or a teacher or supervisor had been in the area, but now, he was all alone in the hallway with a slim chance of someone helping him. He was undoubtedly doomed. 

In an attempt to get away in hopes the older boy hasn’t seen him, he tries to turn around as fast and as inconspicuous as possible, but to no avail because he suddenly feels his backpack being yanked away from his back, body following soon after since he’s being shoved into the lockers behind him. 

His head reels from the impact, dull throbbing spreading from where his head hit the lockers down to his hips from where he’s being poked by the locks on the small doors. There’s a painful grip on his shoulder, not hard enough to bruise, but just enough to hold him in place. 

Usually when Jameson did this, his friends were there by his side to protect him, but all he can think about now is that he’s all alone to deal with the pain and the taunting words. He’s had a fairly decent day, so why _now_ of all times did fate put him in the older’s path, left to fend for himself against the wolves.

The hand on his shoulder clings harder making him hiss out in pain, eyes squeezing shut. He can feel the other’s breath in his face, way too close for comfort, and he tries to squirm away from the intrusion of his personal space, but there isn’t anywhere for him to run to.

“Hey, Chen _lo_. How are you? Choir practice go well?” Jameson says in a sickeningly sweet voice. 

The mispronunciation of his name makes him squirm even more, and that just makes the bully laugh. He doesn't grace the other with an answer, and just glares at him with bared teeth.

"Where'd all your little friends go? I wanted to ask Pipsqueak if he'd found his mommy yet," and that makes his blood boil, because _no one_ talks about Jisung and his family like that. Not without him fighting back.

"Don't talk about Jisung like that! And leave me alone, I just wanna go home!"

"Right, home to your retard brother who can't perform a basic human function and parents who don't _belong here._ Just like you,"

He struggles harder when the older brings up his family, tears threatening to fall when he thinks about what his family would do if they heard the horrible things being spoken about them. They didn't deserve to be spoken about like they were filth under Jameson's shoe, and he was just so tired of hearing it over and over again.

Jameson gets closer, smelling like too much Axe body spray and sweat, and he just yells as loud as he can, "Leave my family alone you asshole! They didn't do anything to you!"

"What would big brother do if he saw you like this, huh? Wave his hands around and try to stop me or—"

"Maybe he won't stop you, but I definitely will," a new voice says, and both boys turn their heads to see another boy standing in front of them, arms crossed and a glare marring his face. His black hair is matted to his forehead with sweat, soccer cleats hanging from one hand and backpack hanging off one shoulder.

"You always show up where you're not wanted Lee. Why don't you go back to kicking a ball and mind your own business?" 

"You make it my business when you're bullying other students. Remember, I'm friends with the Student Council President, and I don't think Jaemin would be so lenient this time with your punishment, "

Jameson narrows his eyes at who Chenle recognizes as Jeno Lee, captain of the soccer team and friends with pretty much everyone, and liked by everyone else that he isn't close to. He hangs around with a lot of different people, but was closest to Jaemin Na-Nakamoto and Donghyuck Lee, who were both also pretty popular eighth graders.

"So let him go, and if I see you talk or even _look_ at him again, I'll make sure you get suspended,"

The two seem to stand off for a moment, both glaring holes into each other until Jameson huffs and lets go of his shoulder, shoving him back into the locker as he moves out of his space.

When he walks down the hallway and turns the corner, Chenle immediately breathes out a sigh of relief that sounds a little bit like a sob, and slides down the front of the locker onto the ground.

And Jeno, who was watching the older walk away in silence, whips his head around at the sob and rushes forward, anger turning to concern in his eyes.

He hesitantly puts a hand on the younger's knee, and goes, "Hey, hey, it's alright. He's not gonna bother you anymore, you're okay now," and that just makes his tears fall a little more now, the weight of Jameson's words lifting off of his body as Jeno keeps talking to him in a soothing tone.

Eventually Jeno moves over to sit against the lockers too, and puts the younger's head on his shoulder, hand coming up to smooth through his hair. He had pulled out his phone at some point, thumb moving around on the keyboard as fast as he could to probably send a message to someone. Chenle should probably text his mom to say why he was late, but he couldn't bare to move from the comfortable position against Jeno's shoulder.

"So," Jeno starts, "you're the younger Qian brother I've heard so much about." and he must pull a face at the unexpected statement because Jeno laughs and continues, "Jaemin's brother is friends with your brother, so I hear a lot about you from him,"

"Who's Jaemin's brother?"

"Yuta Nakamoto? Senior at the highschool, captain of their soccer team?"

The name doesn't sound too familiar, so he just hums in response. They sit in silence for a little more until a few sets of rushing footsteps come up to them, two semi recognizable faces crouching down to his line of vision.

"We got your text Jeno, are you guys okay?" Jaemin says, eyes wide and imploring, but Chenle focuses on the other boy in front of him who is covered in paint stains and has one of the prettiest smiles he thinks he's ever seen.

 _"Don't worry, Jameson treated me like shit too until he got caught, so I generally know how it feels. And now that he knows we're looking out for you, he won't bother you anymore, so there's no need to worry. I promise,"_ the other says, and he feels more tears build up in the corners of his eyes, not because of the anger from Jameson, but from the kindness of these boys he barely knows.

The boy in front of him notices his tears, and coos, patting his head and smiling softly down at him. Jaemin and Jeno are looking at him with sad smiles, and he suddenly feels shy under all the attention the older boys are giving him.

"Thank you for helping me even though you didn't have to. I've just been having a really rough day and Jameson just made it worse so... Thank you, really," he says, and Jaemin shakes his head, mouth ticking at the corner.

"Don't thank us. Jameson has been torturing everyone at this school, our Renjunnie," and he nods his head to the paint covered boy, "included, so we want to help anyone that falls victim to his horrible words." 

"Are you feeling a little bit better now?" Jeno asks, and he scratches his nails against the younger's head making his arm erupt in goosebumps.

"Yeah, I feel a little better," he replies, and smiles at the three who all smile back at him, Jeno's eyes turning to crescents and Jaemin and Renjun's cheeks bunching up from the force of their smile.

"Well, we have to keep practicing for the play, but Jeno's done with practice so he can walk you out of the building, right Jeno?" Jaemin looks to his friend and says, no room for discussion in his tone.

"Of course Nana, who do you take me as?" Jeno jokes, shoving Jaemin slightly in the arm.

"Talk to us if you ever need to..." Renjun trails off, a look of shock crossing over his face, "Oh my god I just realized we never got your name."

"Chenle," he says in response, Jeno smacking his forehead at the same time.

"Well Chenle, it was nice to meet you, and we'll see you around," Jaemin says to him before standing up with Renjun, the two making their way back down the hallway to the auditorium.

When the two are out of sight, Jeno pulls away, the younger immediately missing the warmth, and raises an eyebrow at him in question with a small smile. "Do you need me to walk you to the parking lot? Because I can walk you home if you want; I don't have anywhere I need to be,"

And who is he to say no to an admittedly very cute boy offering to walk him home, so he nods, and they make their way to the front of the school, soft chatter flowing smoothly between them.

When they arrive at his doorstep, Jeno only has time to open his mouth to say something before the door flies open and Kun pulls him into a fierce hug, a few dried tears on his cheeks.

The brothers stand there long enough for Jeno to feel uncomfortable, Chenle rubbing his brother's back and Kun holding on tightly to his shoulders, the younger whispering quiet words to calm his brother down. He had suspected that Kun would freak out when he didn't come home immediately after school, and the fact that he didn't tell his family where he was as it got later and later probably worried the older even more.

Chenle moves his head away from his brother's chest and signs, "This is Jeno, he walked me home," and Kun moves his gaze to the other, looking him up and down before nodding at Chenle and smiling a little at the other.

Jeno visibly straightens at the acknowledgement and smiles back, hand waving back and forth in hello. He says quietly, "Nice to meet you," which apparently makes Kun melt and pull the latter into a hug as well.

When Kun pulls away, he signs, "Thank you," not expecting Jeno to sign "You're welcome," back, which makes him hug the younger once more.

Chenle watches the interaction with fondness, seeing his brother communicate with his new friend. It's a sweet thing that he doesn't see often, but nonetheless is glad he gets to see it happen.

Jeno leaves right after, saying he needs to get home before his dad skins him alive, and leaves the two to watch him walk down the street and turn the same corner Johnny turned that morning.

They go inside, Chenle immediately taking off his shoes and dumping his bag somewhere on the floor in the living room, flopping onto the couch and turning the TV on to a ramdom kid's channel. Kun sits down by his head, maneuvering them so that the younger's head is in his lap and can brush his hands slowly through his hair. 

They do this when they need to de-stress together, getting as close as possible and offering silent comfort, no words or signs needing to be made between them. That's how it's always been, and it's how it will be for the rest of their lives.

He eventually falls asleep like this, soothing motion of Kun's hand running through his hair, pushing the bad memories of today away from his mind. Right now, in this peaceful state, there is no Jameson or harsh words, just his brother, his best friend (who he had texted while walking home, and was very pissed about what happened with Jameson, but more upset that he couldn't be there for his best friend. Chenle responded by saying he didn't need to worry, and that he could just make it up to him by buying him ice cream), and three new people that had come into his life, and had promised they'd stay.

Right now, he was safe, and he was loved, and that was all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Oof okay I wrote a lot of this today and I do hope to come back to it soon and add more details, but it's done!! And we have a little more back story, so that's cool!! Tell me if you liked it! 
> 
> And Happy Anniversary to Erlebnisse. It's been one wild year and I'm so glad I've started this. To those few of you that have been reading since the beginning, or have read everything in the series and decided to stick around, thank you. Thank you for showing support, and for being there when no one else was. You guys are the best. I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you stick around.
> 
> Here's to another year of the Erlebnisse Universe! Who knows what's in store?
> 
> Love you all, and thank you again for all the support that's been shown for this series. I could never thank you guys enough, but hopefully this suffices. See you soon!


End file.
